Jen collapsed on the couch in Sam's suite, and Tamako sat down next to her and asked, "Is everything running smoothly now?"

Jen groaned with exhaustion as she turned on the couch, swung her leg up on one end, and placed her head in Tamako's lap, and replied, "Everything's good enough. Bell is handling all the settings and the casino interaction with the system, and I just finished hiring casino staff for all the one's that needed firing. I have zero interest in being some HR director, when we should be out kicking ass!"

Tamako nodded solemnly at Jen's words, and replied, "Let's get out of here now. I would also rather pick a low-paying adventuring job than spend another minute in this casino. Is Sam even making us any money? It seems like the gamblers are winning a lot out there."

Jen grabbed Tamako's hand and guided it towards her own head, and as Tamako ran her finger's through Jen's hair, Jen replied, "Yes, and No. Bell has set all the odds for the games and slot machines to maximum payout, with only a slight edge for the house."

Tamako shook her head in confusion, "Why would Sam allow her to do that?"

Sam just entered his private suite, and answered, "I want everyone to love gambling here, and support my continued ownership of the casino. Also, even though I don't like casinos, or the truth of what I'm doing, the casino will make more money than it ever did before."

Tamako looked at Sam with disbelief, and replied, "How do you think you'll make more money, if the odds for the gamblers are much closer to even with the casino than normal? This does not make sense!"

Sam shrugged with the acceptance and his disappointment in the the nature of gamblers, and explained, "Gamblers are addicted to gambling. Even if they are not on euphoria, or being tempted by a System gambling quest... they will still gamble because of their addiction to false hope of easy money, and their natural high when they win. If a gambler has 5 hundred silver, they will continue to gamble until they've lost all their money, maybe not in the same day, but they will keep coming back until they are broke. By changing the odds, the gamblers will get more "wins" in my casino than anywhere else. They will choose to return to my casino, rather than go anywhere else. Plus, since they are winning more often, they will stay in my casino longer, buy the crazy cheap food and booze that we're now offering, spend more money than they originally intended, and tell all their friends that I have the best casino they've ever been to in the decks. The House winning 1.5% from one thousand gamblers every hour of every day of the week, is better than winning 5 or 10% from just a few hundred customers during only the peak gambling hours."

As Tamako paused to consider Sam's explanation, he internally grumbled at the insidious psychology that casinos used, and sat down pulling Jen's feet into his lap and started rubbing them. He then said to Jen, "Thanks Boss! I appreciate all the help getting all the employees sorted. Thank goodness Bell will have this all on autopilot soon, and then we can figure out the best way to use the teleporter in here to jump to the Third Deck, but right now, I'm ready to get the 'F' out of here for a bit!"

Jen twisted on the couch and sat up, as she announced, "This place will be fine for a few hours. Let's sneak out of here, and go get Pudding, action man, and all our stuff from the rental house and bring it all back here... and maybe get a drink or two while we're at it!"

Sam replied, "I second your plan, Boss!"

Tamako nodded, "Well you both know I want out of here. It's unanimous! Let's get going now, before something else pops up that we've got to take care of."

******

“Get ready!” Jen said as she reached out with her psych ability to access Pudding's stat screen and on-board screen.

Jen sighed with relief as she instantly felt both action-man and Pudding’s presence. She could sense a significant improvement in Pudding’s mental stability. Jen spoke in her hypnotic voice, “Good work you two. Thank you for giving me access to your skills and spells.”

With no little difficulty, Jen copied the very basics of her multi-focus spell from her onboard and pasted it directly into Pudding’s skills list.

Jen was breathing heavily from the overdrawing of her mana, but she still felt Tamako's concern for her. Jen opened her eyes, and saw that Sam and Tamako had just about finished packing all their stuff up in travel bags. Damn I miss our storage devices! Jen thought for the millionth time.

Jen waved Tamako off as she started to approach her, then Jen turned her attention back to Pudding, and explained, “Pudding, what you need to do is stay in meditation. Do not leave meditation no matter what, but use the multi-focus skill I just gave you to reach out with that part of your mind that has found peace, and re-enter the here and now. You and action-man know that I am influencing you with my hypnotic spell. I am now going to withdraw my mind from yours, but I am going to continue using my hypnotic spell. Nod your head if you understand and agree.”

Pudding’s eyes were still closed, but he nodded his head slowly. Jen was elated as she withdrew her mind and then said, “Pudding, if you can still hear my voice nod your head again.”

Pudding nodded his head.

“Do you wish to stay purely in meditation any longer?”

Pudding shook his head no.

“Do you wish to wake up?”

Pudding nodded his head yes.

“I would like to give you a trigger word so that you may return you to meditation if you are having difficulty. Would you be ok with that?”

Pudding nodded his head yes.

“If I, Sam, Tamako, your own self, or action-man asks you to say the words ‘Golem Mage’, you will immediately return your mind to a pure state of meditation. Now, I am going to count down from 10, and when I reach zero, you will wake up feeling rested, relaxed, calm, and safe. 10, 9, 8 ….2, 1, and zero”

Pudding opened his eyes, and with his voice barely under control, said, “I would like to go on the quest for the Oracle of Cognitio. However, I am placing you and all your friends in great danger, and I need to leave the city and this territory as soon as possible.”